Learn the Art of Writing

From a Professional Writer and Consultant

Mastering the art of writing is a meticulous process, but it is not an impossible feat. All you need is a little guidance from a professional writer and editor. When you need assistance with your résumé, business report, academic paper, or sales pitch, look no further than the Wordsmith Of Austin. Dan Smith has been serving clients in and around Austin, TX for decades, so you can be confident in the quality of his work.

Dan Smith

Writer, Editor, Consultant

For the last 25 years, Dan Smith, M.S., has provided professional writing, editing, and documentation services to commercial, professional, and academic clients. As the owner of Wordsmith, he has helped meet the documentation needs of a wide variety of commercial, high-tech, educational, and research organizations.

When he isn't earning his living, which takes a disturbing amount of time, Dan is an avid birder, photographer, bicyclist, and runner. But the largest portion of his recreational time over about 15 years was taken up with opera and musical theater. Dan is retired from opera after participating in 34 productions from 1991 through 2006, but the experience remains an important part of who he is.

Below, he is shown (in the center with three bottles) as a member of a backstage bottle band organized and tuned by Dick Perot (seated left and playing lead on the recorder) during the Austin Lyric Opera's production of Barber of Seville, and as an entranced townsman in Carmen with Melanie Sonnenberg in the title role. In 1998, he was Executive Producer of the Austin Gilbert & Sullivan Society's production of The Mikado, and in 2000 he produced The Pirates of Penzance. He has appeared as a peer, yoeman, cavalryman, and fairy in several of that organization's productions.

Dan holds a Master of Science in Communication and taught speech, debate, English composition, and persuasion at the college level for more than 10 years. He has volunteered as an expert in business, technical, and academic writing at AllExperts.com for the last three years.

On Writing Well

I volunteered as an expert on business, technical, and academic writing at AllExperts.com for about many years until it closed in early 2017. In that time, many asked how best to improve their writing skills or how to help their children write well.

I usually answer either question this way. Writing is a learned skill just like hitting a baseball, throwing a football, or hitting a golf ball. It is not a "gift." If there is a gift in writing well, that gift is love and respect of the language. The best way to acquire that love is to read. So if you would write better, read. And read good stuff, not just the daily newspaper, however valuable that might be.

Read things that will expose you both to good writing and to knowledge that will be worth having. After all, you will need something to write about. Read good novels, histories, and biographies of people whose lives are worth knowing about. Read about science and some of the ways great scientific discoveries have been made in the past. If you are a parent of young children, read to them; again, read good stuff, not just the toy readers that you can buy in children's stores. Read classic kid's stories. And let your children see you reading and enjoying it so they understand that it is fun.

The other thing to do is to practice writing. It's a learned skill, remember. About 30 years ago, I took a seminar on proposal writing. The person who taught it advised us all to write at least one page every day, even if it was only a letter to our grandparents. And when you write, he said, look at what you have written to make sure you said what you meant to say. Today, I advise everyone to take care with everything they write, even casual e-mail. It takes very little time to do it well, and usually saves time in the long run. And each memo or e-mail is an opportunity to practice writing--and by extension, thinking--well.

If you do these things, you will become an effective writer.

Schedule a Writing and Editing Consultation

Learn to create compelling content that speaks to your readers by seeking assistance from a professional writer. To schedule a content writing and editing consultation with Dan or to hire him for your documentation needs, contact him using the information provided. He accommodates clients on weekdays.

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Wordsmith Of Austin

Dan Smith, Owner, Writer, Editor, and Consultant

Austin, TX

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(512) 451-2632

Email: dan@wordsmithofaustin.com